Italy: Hospitals report rise in heat cases as weather fails to deter tourists

Rome: The number of people accessing emergency care for heat-related illnesses has risen sharply in some of Italy’s most popular tourist cities, as the country experiences an intense heatwave that is failing to deter visitors.

Italy has been engulfed in consecutive heatwaves since around the middle of June. Some central and southern areas are expected to record temperatures above 40C in the coming days.

On Monday the health ministry placed 17 cities on red alert, meaning it is expected even healthy people could be at risk from the heat. People living in or visiting places on red alert are advised to avoid direct sunlight between 11am and 6pm.

Fabio De Iaco, the president of the Italian society of emergency medicine, told Corriere della Sera that as the heat had intensified there had been a 20% rise in the number of people accessing emergency care for heat-related illnesses in cities including Rome, Florence, Venice and Naples.

In Rome there have been cases of people fainting in the heat in St Peter’s Square or while congregating at popular monuments such as the Trevi fountain.

Dr Pierpaolo Ciocchetti, the director of the emergency department at the Fatebenefratelli hospital in central Rome, said most of the people requiring care were elderly and suffering from other illnesses.

“But younger people should not underestimate the effects of the heat,” he told Corriere della Sera. He advised people not to go to emergency units with illnesses that could be managed at home, adding that hospital admissions for Covid had also been increasing.

Most of the cases of heat-related illnesses are resolved through rehydration. Just 1-2% have required hospitalisation.

Four people are reported to have died in Italy in July of illnesses related to the extreme heat. Last week a 26-year-old woman underwent an emergency liver transplant at a hospital in Turin after collapsing due to heatstroke while working on a farm.

The heat is not deterring tourists, with the number of foreign visitors to Italy estimated to be 2.5% higher than in 2023. In July and August, most major cities are filled with tourists while Italians escape to the beach or mountains. However, with sea temperatures also topping 30C, it is difficult to find respite from the heat even along the coast.